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Daily Business Report-June 9, 2014

This alternative requires building temporary replacement for Terminal 1.

Planning the Last Major Expansion of Lindbergh Field

Airport planners on Friday outlined initial concepts for what they expect will be the last major expansion of the San Diego International Airport — replacing Terminal 1 and adding 10 gates to handle 10 million more passengers annually.

This alternative uses a high bridge to connect to a new satellite terminal.

“This is a project that will take this airport to the end of the capacity of this runway by 2035,” said Keith Wilschetz, director of airport planning.

Wilschetz said the airport staff is seeking input from the community now in preparation for developing a plan to present to the San Diego County Airport Authority board later this year or early next. He said environmental review of the plan would take up to two years, and work could start in 2016.

The concepts being studied all include 10 more gates, new parking decks, a new roadway separate from Harbor Drive to handle traffic, a bridge from the closest trolley station, additional overnight aircraft parking and demolition of both Terminal 1 and the Commuter Terminal. The new gates would increase the airport’s capacity to handle international flights.

“The 787 has opened up a whole new set of routes for us and we want to capitalize on that,” Wilschetz said, referring to Boeing’s long-range jetliner that is already flying from San Diego to Tokyo.

This alternative replaces Terminal 1 and the Commuter Terminal with a large new terminal.

The plan does not include a second runway or an expansion of the existing one. All of the work would take place on the airport’s current land.

Wilschetz said no cost estimates are available at this early stage, but noted that the airport is funded through its own revenue and does not rely on tax dollars.

The new project follows the Green Build, completed last August, which added 10 new gates and additional aircraft parking. A new rental car facility is currently under construction on north side.

The new project would increase the airport’s capacity to 28 million passengers per year from the current 18 million. Asked what happens after full capacity of the single runway is reached in 2035, Wilschetz said the San Diego community will have to decide the next step.

“This airport isn’t going to go away. It’s just at that point, future growth is going to be very difficult to accommodate here, ” he said.

A public open house to discuss the plan and its options is schedule for June 12 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the commuter terminal.

– Times of San Diego

Celadon topping out

Celadon Developer Aims for ‘Cohesive Urban Community’

Celadon, a 17-story apartment building under construction at Ninth Avenue and Broadway in Downtown San Diego, will have an unusual mixture of tenants under a plan devised by developer BRIDGE Housing to create “a cohesive urban community.”

“Celadon offers housing to seniors, the adult workforce, and at-risk youth transitioning from a homeless childhood to adulthood. It is a pivotal project for the healthy growth of Downtown,” said Ernesto Vasquez, chairman and CEO of MVE Institutional Inc., the architect.

Celadon will feature 250 affordable homes for individuals and small families. Eighty-eight of the units are targeted to be supportive housing, including 25 units for youth aging out of foster care and adults under the MHSA program, and 63 apartments will serve seniors under the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE).

Monthly rents will range from about $408 to $879, depending on income, household, and unit size. Celadon’s shared amenities include two community rooms, a seminar room, laundry facilities, and a courtyard garden. The building is expected to be LEED Silver certified and will have an eco-roof with drought-tolerant planting, a photovoltaic system, solar water heating, and efficient mechanical systems.

The building was recently topped out when the last steel beam was placed at the top. It is scheduled to be completed in February 2015.

UCSD Lab

UC San Diego Researchers Find

Protein That Triggers Diabetes

The origins and steps of obesity-related diabetes have been established for the first time, according to a significant set of findings just published by researchers at the UC San Diego School of Medicine. The researchers concentrated on a protein, called ANT2, that they believe causes diabetes in fat people.

“We’ve pinpointed the steps, the way the whole thing happens,” said Jerrold M. Olefsky, associate dean for scientific affairs at UC San Diego. “The research is in mice, but the evidence suggests that the processes are comparable in humans and these findings are important to not just understanding how diabetes begins, but how better to treat it and prevent it.”

In a study published this weekend in the medical journal Cell, the university researchers described a sequence that begins at the cellular level, as cells react to high-fat diets. These high-fat diets can then result in obesity- induced insulin resistance, and then diabetes.

Olefsky and others have previously shown that obesity is characterized by low-grade inflammation in fat tissue, and that this inflammation can become chronic and result in insulin resistance and diabetes. In their most recent findings, the scientists describe the earliest stages of the process which begin before obesity manifests itself.

– City News Service

Employment Law Update Set for June 18

San Diego Employers Association’s Summer 2014 Employment Law Update takes place on June 18 from 8:30 to 10 a.m. at AMN Healthcare, 12400 High Bluff Drive, in San Diego. SDEA’s mid-year employment law check-in helps business owners and HR professionals determine whether their company is in compliance. The update will cover new legal developments that include wage and hour updates, discrimination and harassment claims, new leave laws affecting organizations. It will be led by Christopher Olmsted with Barker Olmsted & Barnier. Eligible for 1.5 hours HRCI units.

Faulconer’s Spending Plan to go Before City Council

The San Diego City Council today is scheduled to consider Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s nearly $3 billion budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1. Among the spending plan’s highlights are extended library hours, more officers in police academies, additional fire academies, transit plans for Encanto and City Heights, and more money for infrastructure project.

The proposal also includes funding for a program manager to oversee the city’s various sustainability programs, street light installation, parks projects, fire equipment and a lifeguard at Windansea Beach.

“Neighborhoods continue to come first in my budget proposal,” Faulconer said. “We’re installing more street lights so our neighborhoods are bright and safe, building more parks for our families and giving firefighters and lifeguards more resources to keep us safe.”

The mayor’s office projected the city would gain an extra $7.2 million in property tax revenue and $1.4 million more in hotel room taxes from what was first thought when he unveiled his budget proposal in April. Other revenue areas were also expected to see increases, while some savings were also identified.

– City News Service

Jerry Brown’s Mexico Mission Accepting Applicants

Applications are available now for companies and organizations wishing to be part of the trade and investment mission to Mexico July 27-30, led by Gov. Jerry Brown and organized by the California Chamber of Commerce. Delegates will visit with high-ranking officials in Mexico City, tour California companies and projects in Mexico, and lead events to promote California to potential Mexican investors.

A participation fee of $5,000 covers delegate expenses for the four days in Mexico including transportation, meals, interpreters, events and programs throughout Mexico City (excluding hotel and air travel).

Rapid Bus Service Launched

Between Escondido and Downtown

If you live in North County but work in Downtown San Diego, your morning commute may be a bit easier. A new rapid bus service began over the weekend between Escondido and Downtown, using I-15 express lanes.

Rapid 235 began service on Sunday from Escondido through Rancho Bernardo, Kearny Mesa, City Heights, City College to Broadway in Downtown.

It operates seven days a week from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m., and runs every 15 minutes during weekday rush hours, and every 30 minutes during non-rush hours and on weekends.

Twenty-nine newly designed buses will supply the route, paid for with transnet sales tax dollars.

– KPBS

Penniman Reappointed to County Fair Board

Russell S. Penniman IV, 56, of Rancho Santa Fe, has been reappointed to the 22nd District Agricultural Association’s San Diego County Fair Board of Directors, where he has served since 2003. Penniman has been a rear admiral in the U.S. Navy Reserve since 2008, where he has served since 1994, and has been a managing member of Penniman and Associates LLC since 2000. He was a managing member of Plus Products from 1994 to 1999 and an active duty naval officer at the U.S. Department of the Navy from 1979 to 1994. The position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Penniman is a Republican.

Biotech Co-Founder Wins Spain’s Highest Science Prize

The co-founder of a La Jolla-based biotech firm will receive the 2014 Prince of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research. Mark E. Davis of Avidity NanoMedicines LLC will receive the award at an academy ceremony in October in Oviedo, Spain, the company announced.

At Avidity NanoMedicines, Davis works on the targeted delivery of nucleic acid-based medicines. He is also the Warren and Katherine Schlinger Professor of Chemical Engineering at Caltech in Pasadena.

The Asturias Prize represents the highest scientific recognition in Spain and one of the most prestigious scientific honors in Europe.

“Mark Davis is an exceptional scientist and has made many pioneering contributions to the discovery and development of new materials for applications in catalysis, energy and medicine,” said Troy Wilson, president and chief executive officer of Avidity NanoMedicines.

The Bridges Hires New Head Tennis Pro

James Kneussl

Downtown San Diego resident James Kneussl has joined The Bridges at Rancho Santa Fe as its new head tennis professional. Kneussl will oversee tennis instruction and programming at The Bridges’ $5 million Tennis & Recreation Centre, a five-acre facility serving club members, their children and grandchildren.

Kneussl comes to The Bridges from Rancho Valencia Resort, where he served as the assistant director of programming and instruction for West Coach Tennis Academy. Prior to that, he was the assistant director of tennis at River Falls Swim and Tennis Club in Potomac, Md. Born in Baltimore, he started his career teaching tennis while attending Eton University and the University of Maryland, where he earned degrees in international business and foreign languages.

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